Jay Ellis shares his thoughts on the third season of 'Insecure' without his character, Lawrence

Posted Friday evening

Anne Marie Fox/HBO(NEW YORK) -- On Sunday night's return of the hit HBO series Insecure, one of the show's central characters will be noticeably absent. Jay Ellis, who's played Lawrence Walker and Issa Rae's boyfriend on the series, will not be returning for season three.

Ellis tells ABC Radio that after last season, there really wasn't much to his character's story.

"At the end of season two we see Lawrence and Issa come full circle and have closure and say goodbye to each other," he says. "And so from there, I don't know what Lawrence's story is. I wish I did. I wish I had something better for you."

While Ellis has accepted his departure on the show, his exit does come with some drawbacks. Last month, fans of the show launched a petition at WhereIsLawrence.com for Ellis to return to the series. The link includes a sign-up form for a Care2 petition that at last check was just a few dozen signatures shy of its 11,000 signature goal.

Ellis, however, seems unaffected by the attention. Instead, he offers his hopes for his character's journey, regardless of where it is.

"Wherever he goes in life or whatever he ends up doing in life, I hope he finds happiness," Ellis says. "I hope that that was a moment for him where he actually really learned something and is able to use it to grow. And he's going to stumble, I'm sure -- but hopefully he uses it to grow."